Another story! Horrah! This is
set sometime in Season One, after the 'I love you' declarations.
It focuses on Nathan and Haley, no other specific pairings because
really, no one else will be in it. So if you want it to be Brucas,
then it's Brucas. If you want Leyton, it's a Leyton! Yay!
Everyone's happy! So let's just jump right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: Do you seriously
think I'd be on fanfiction if I owned One Tree Hill? Psh, get real.

-23-

"Okay, don't freak out." Haley
said sitting down at a lunch table outside on the quad. Nathan looked
up from the notebook in front of him and frowned.

"Hales, you should know me well
enough by now not to bother saying that; because as soon as you do, I
start to worry."

"Sorry. Okay, so here's the
deal: my parents want to hang out this weekend."

A smile crept across his face.
"Well, I'm pretty busy. I mean, I know your parents like me but I
was kind of hoping to spend some time with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Very funny.
I meant with both of us. They said they wanted to get to know you
more since you apparently take up all of my time."

"Well what can I say? I'm
irresistible." He grinned as he leaned in and kissed her.

"Well as true as that may be, they
still want to hang out. They said we could do three things: something
they pick, something I pick, and something you pick." She said once
they'd parted.

Nathan shrugged. "Okay, I'm
there."

"Good! How's this Saturday?"

"Fine by me. Maybe after we can go
out and catch a movie or something. Or we could always head back to
my apartment…."

Haley laughed. "We'll see. Just
think of what you want us to do; my parents are interested in finding
out." She stood up, dropping another kiss on his forehead. "I
have to go; I'm tutoring someone in ten minutes."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll meet you
by your locker after last period?"

"I would hope so since I have no
other ride."

"Good. No other boyfriends I have
to worry about." He smiled. "See you then."

"Bye Nathan."

-23-

"And you get to pick something to
do?" Lucas questioned later that night on the phone.

Nathan sighed and flopped down on
the couch in his apartment. "Yeah, and I'm not sure what to do. I
mean, if I pick basketball they might be bored but if I pick
something else they might think I'm trying to impress them."
After talking to Haley earlier that day, and realizing he had no clue
what the hell he was going to do, he decided to call Lucas and ask
for help since he figured Lucas would know the most about Haley's
parents.

"Let me tell you something, man:
Jimmy and Lydia are the two most laid back people on the planet. I
don't think it really matters what you do. As long as they realize
that you're good to Haley they won't care."

"How do you know that?"

Lucas laughed. "Because Haley has
five brothers and sisters. And after everything they've done Haley
is easily the most mature and responsible one, most of the time more
so than Lydia and Jimmy. They're good people, Nate. You have
nothing to worry about."

Nathan sighed. "Yeah, I guess so.
Thanks dude."

"Anytime man. I'm glad they're
doing this, now you can worry about it and I can kick your ass even
more than usual at practice."

"Dream on. I can beat you with
both arms tied behind my back." He said easily.

"Oh, I'd love to see that."

-23-

"Okay, so have you decided what
you want to do tomorrow?" Haley asked walking up to Nathan's
locker the next day.

He leaned down and kissed her
quickly. "I think so."

"Good. Me too and don't worry
about it, it'll be fine." She smiled. "Lucas and I are going to
the bookstore today after school so I'll see you at my house
tomorrow around noon, sound good?"

"Sounds good." He smiled at her
before adding quickly, "Love you."

"Love you too." They both
grinned as they went their separate ways. It was new for both of
them, sure. Neither having been in a real serious relationship
before, it was all new. But it worked, and after they had said it for
the first time it had gradually become easier and more natural. Now
it seemed almost out of the ordinary if it wasn't said at least
once during the day, as if it were routine and not the least bit
unexpected.

The school had immediately began to
buzz once they had started dating: basketball jock Nathan Scott and
bookworm Haley James, a couple? It was unheard of. It was completely
opposite status quo and wrong on so many levels. But once their
friends had accepted it, acting as if it was just another high school
couple, everyone had moved on to the next gossip story and Nathan and
Haley's relationship was soon forgotten. Now that everyone had
gotten used to it, it was completely natural. They no longer laughed
when they saw the two walking down the hall or made jokes behind
their backs. There were no looks of disapproval as they passed notes
during class or Haley sat with the basketball team at lunch. It was
just… how things were.

-23-

Saturday came bright and early and,
as promised, Nathan was standing on Haley's porch promptly at
twelve o'clock. She grinned when she opened the door, greeting him
with a kiss and ushering him into the kitchen where her parents sat
drinking glasses of ice water.

"Nathan, it's nice to see you
again." Jimmy said standing up and shaking his hand. "How've
you been?"

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. James," Nathan
said nervously. "I'm okay, how about you?"

"Well we're still old and
senile, but other than that just fine." Lydia answered smiling.
"And for the last time, call us Jimmy and Lydia. Mr. and Mrs. James
are Jimmy's parents."

"And they're really old."
Jimmy added.

Haley closed her eyes and tried to
calm down, praying that her parents would just stop talking.

"So, should we go?" Lydia stood
up and set her and her husband's glasses in the sink.

Everyone nodded and headed out to
the car; Jimmy taking the driver's seat, Lydia the passenger's
and Nathan and Haley together in the back.

"Relax." She whispered as they
started moving. "This isn't a big deal."

He nodded and grabbed her hand,
clearly not believing it.

"Haley Bob, what are you two
talking about?" Lydia said from the front. "We may be old but
we're not deaf."

"Oh." Nathan smiled; they had
picked something he was at least semi good at. Maybe this wouldn't
be so bad after all.

-23-

"Yes!" Haley cheered as she made
yet another hole in one. "I guess the golf course on Karen's roof
wasn't such a bad idea."

"I guess not." Lydia agreed as
she stepped up and aimed her putter. "So Nathan, we here you're
living on your own."

"Um, yeah. My parents weren't
exactly what you would call tender." He said uncomfortably. "They
argued a lot and it got to be too much. Then after the incident on
the court I just realized I couldn't deal with it anymore."

"What incident?" Jimmy asked as
his wife marked her score down on the sheet.

"The one I told you about, dad."
Haley spoke up quickly. "Remember? I came home from the game and
said he had been rushed to the hospital after he collapsed."

"Oh, yes. We were sorry to hear
about that. I take it you're better now?"

Nathan nodded. "Yes sir. I think I
just lost focus on what was important in life. Haley helped me
realize it though." He smiled at her, which caused Haley to go red.

"I didn't do anything." She
said humbly. "You did it all yourself. I just cheered you on."

"No, you helped me Hales. You
helped me see what I had been missing all along, and I'll always
appreciate you for that." He said sincerely.

"Well it looks like we have a
mentor on our hands, Jimmy." Lydia spoke up. "It appears Haley
might just be the next Jesus."

"Mom!"

"Seriously hon, we should take you
up to the hospital. See if you can cure the sick."

"Dad, can you guys please just be
serious for one minute please?"

Jimmy laughed. "Relax hon. You
know we like to tease. In all seriousness, though, we're glad
you're back on track Nathan."

"Okay, that's enough serious
stuff. It's time to find out the winners!" Lydia said holding up
the score card. "First place goes to Haley Bob, followed by Nathan,
then me and the big loser: Jimmy!"

"There has to be some mistake, I'm
always good at this game! Let me see that." Jimmy grabbed the card
and began to examine it.

His wife sighed. "Jimmy, get over
it, you lost. And don't make up some story about how you thought we
were playing for the highest score, because you've used that excuse
too many times already."

"Fine. Haley, your place to pick
is next. Where to?"

-23-

"Sweetie, I have to admit I like
the way you think." Lydia spoke up half an hour later. Haley has
chosen to go to the local Sweet Shoppe downtown for ice cream.

"Well I'd love to say I picked
it because it was a great way for us all to get to know each other,
but really I just wanted a double scoop of Rocky Road." Haley
admitted taking a bite out of her ice cream cone.

Her dad smiled, "Still a good
idea."

Lydia made a face. "Jimmy, I
cannot believe you got that new Pumpkin Mint flavor of the month
thing. It looks disgusting."

"It does not."

"It's green and orange with
little brown things in it!"

He scoffed. "The chocolate chips
top it off!"

"You should've just gotten plain
vanilla like me."

"Vanilla is boring!"

"You're demented."

"Says the woman who wanted to get
a lime green sofa last weekend."

"It went well with the carpet!"

"It came with a matching shag
rug."

"Jimmy, you are not a woman. You
wouldn't understand decorating if it came up and flashed you."
Lydia said rolling her eyes.

"Okay, change of subject!" Haley
said loudly. "Please!"

"Fine. Nathan, other than
basketball, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Jimmy asked
licking his multi-colored treat. "You like golf? Or fishing?"

"Um, I've played golf a couple
of times." Nathan said licking his own ice cream, which was the
same as Haley's. "But it was never what you would call fun. My
dad took me out a couple of times and it always seemed to end with an
argument."

"Well how about fishing? You ever
been fishing?"

"No sir. My dad was never really
the outdoors type."

Jimmy smiled kindly. "Nathan, I
keep noticing that you mention your father a lot. And I want you to
know that we don't care about him. We care about you and how well
you take care of our daughter. So, tell us what you like to
do."

Nathan shifted in his seat, and
locked eyes with Haley who gave him a look that clearly said, 'Calm
down and just be yourself'.

"Um, well I'm usually pretty
busy with school and work and basketball, but when I do have free
time I like to play video games or spend time with my friends or just
shoot around. But my favorite thing to do is hang out with Haley."

Jimmy and Lydia nodded, sensing he
had more to say.

"The truth is, Mr. and Mrs. James,
is that I'm in love with your daughter." Nathan went on. "And I
would never, ever do anything to purposely hurt or upset her or
pressure her into doing anything she doesn't want to do. All I want
to do is spend time with her, because

when I do I know she makes me a
better person; the kind of person I want to be." He looked down at
his ice cream, clearly not wanting to have to look them in the eyes
for the next part. "My life was pretty screwed up. My mom was never
home, my dad is a jerk, and I had a brother who I tried pretty hard
to pretend didn't exist. But when I met Haley she helped me realize
that there's more to life than basketball. To be perfectly honest,
she makes me a better person and all I want is to be with her."

"Will you excuse us for just a
minute?" Lydia asked standing up and dragging Jimmy to the other
side of the shop.

"Did you mean what you just said?"
Haley asked quietly after they'd gone.

Nathan nodded, "Every word."

She grabbed him by the face and
pulled him close, kissing him soft but lovingly. "No one has ever
said anything like that to me before. It means a lot coming from
you."

Jimmy nodded. "And we've decided
that if you care about our baby enough to say something like that to
us, you must be a decent guy."

Haley grinned. "I told you it
would be okay." She whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"Thank you." Nathan said
genuinely. "That means a lot to me."

"You'd better take care of her,
though. We're not afraid to come and hunt you down." Lydia
teased.

"You don't have to worry about
that. I don't plan on doing anything to jeopardize my relationship
with Haley."

"Alright then; Now that the
serious talk is over, Nathan, where are you taking us to end the
day?"

-23-

"I know that it seems like my life
revolves around basketball." Nathan said as the four of them walked
up to the River Court. "But I wanted to show you that it doesn't
always have to be about a scoring average or how many people are
cheering you on. That sometimes you just play because you love the
game. And since I can't really explain it, I figured maybe I could
show you." He grabbed a basketball lying under one of the nets at
the end of the court. "How about a game of two on two?"

"Sounds good." Lydia said
nodding. "But you have to team with Haley so it'll balance out."

"Hey!" Haley yelled, mildly
offended.

"Sorry hon. But I think it's no
secret to anyone here that you're just not cut out to play sports."
Her father said sympathetically.

Nathan chuckled. "It's cool; I
was planning on teaming with Haley anyway."

"Because I'm awful?"

"No, because I can hopefully help
you score." He winked at her.

Half an hour later the game was
getting heated, the score was 8 to 5 with Nathan and Haley leading.
Nathan had decided they would play to ten, having each basket count
as one point.

"Okay, I'm not going easy on you
anymore Nate." Jimmy said as Nathan stole the ball yet again from
him.

Nathan grinned and tossed the ball
to Haley, lifting her up by the waist so she could toss the ball into
the net with ease.

"Yes!" she cheered. "You know
basketball isn't so hard when you play like this."

The group chuckled, "Okay, so this
next basket means we win, right?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah Hales."

He and Jimmy took their places at
the center of the court and they resumed playing.

Fifteen minutes later they all sat
on the bleachers, hot and winded, drinking Gatorade.

"You know Nathan this was fun and
all, but next time I'm not going to let you win." Jimmy joked.

"I appreciate you going easy on me
Mr. James." Nathan chuckled.

"Well, you seem new to the game. I
wanted to give you a break."

Lydia rolled her eyes and stood up.
"I think we're going to head back. This was fun, though. It was
great getting to know you Nathan." She held out her arms and gave
him a quick hug. "You take care of my baby."

"What am I, her dentist?" Jimmy
asked joining them.

"Oh for heaven's sake. Our,
take care of our baby."

Nathan laughed. "I will."

Jimmy shook Nathan's hand, turning
and walking off with his wife.

"Oh, and Nathan?" He called
turning around.

"Um, yeah?"

He and Lydia grinned. "The next
time you come over in the middle of the night, try using the front
door. The neighbors might start to think we're being robbed."

"Yes sir." Nathan said, his face
going red.

"Honey, we trust you both."
Lydia said warmly. "And we don't have a problem with it; just
please stop climbing up our trellis. You're killing my geraniums."

"Yes Mrs. James."

She smiled. "Thank you dear."

"That was interesting." Haley
said walking up and putting her arms around him.

"Definitely. But I'm glad we did
this, your parents are nice Hales."

"Please, they're so
embarrassing."

"Maybe to you, but I think they're
cool." He leaned down and pecked her on the lips.

"You want to catch a movie?"

He shrugged. "We could, or we
could go swimming at my parent's house since they're both out of
town for the weekend."

"But your apartment complex has a
pool." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but this way we could have
it to ourselves. And then I can kiss you as much as I want and you
won't freak out about PDA." He whispered kissing her neck.

Haley smiled. "Hm, good point. Do
you still have my bathing suit at your apartment when I forgot it
last week?"

"Yup."

"Okay then. Let's grab our suits
and go swimming."

Nathan grinned and picked her up,
causing Haley to yell out in protest.

"Nathan! Nathan, put me down! I
can walk!"

"I know that, but I can walk
faster."

"Will you just put me down?"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"No and don't bother giving me
the sad face because it isn't going to work."

Haley frowned; she didn't have a
backup plan. She was just about to give up when a light bulb went off
in her head.

"Ow! What the hell?" Nathan
stopped and set Haley on the ground. "Did you just pinch my ass?"

Haley grinned. "Yep; and look, you
put me down!"

He shook his head, "Unfortunately
for you that only turns me on."

"Then why did you put me down?"

"Because you kind of scared the
shit out of me." He said matter-of-factly.

"Well I'm down now so it looks
like you're out of luck."

"You seriously don't think I can
catch you?"

Haley got up and began running,
Nathan catching up to her with ease. He scooped her up and started to
run towards his apartment.

"Nathan, put me down!" she
pinched his butt again, causing him to jump a little and smack her
bottom. "Hey!"

He laughed. "Hey what?"

"You just slapped my ass!"

"You pinched mine!"

She tried to think of a clever
comeback but couldn't come up with anything better than, "So?"

"So, every time you pinch me, I'm
going to spank you."

"Nathan!" she whined.

"Hales!" he moaned, matching her
tone.

She let out a breath. "Fine. You
win."

"I always do."

"You're lucky I love you."

He stopped suddenly and set her
down. "I know I am. I love you too Hales."

"That was sweet, and you put me
down again!" she cried racing off.

Nathan grinned and began to chase
after her again. God he loved that girl.

Fin.

-23-

Well, how'd you like it? How
was it? All opinions are welcome! And don't forget to REVIEW!!
They make me smile. 

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.